Knob locking and releasing mechanism for locks



(No Model.)

2 S heetsSheet l. G. E. THAXTER. v KNOB LOOKING AND RELEA SING MECHANISMFOR LOOKS.

Patented Apr. '7 1885.

.Wv'iiwSs /a. Wham 0% 5 zfia (No Model,) 2 She ets-Sheet 2.G.E.VTHAXTER.

KNOB LOOKING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR LOCKS. 4

No. 315,186. Patented Apr. 7, 1885.

74 1 5700 5 s as Iw/u 671160 7" vii/5 9mm:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. THAXTER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

KNOB LOCKING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR LOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 315,186, dated April7, 1885.

Application filed Juno 4, 1834. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. THAXTER, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvementsin Knob Locking and Releasing Mechanisms for Locks, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its object the provision of mechanism whereby thelatch or lockbolt of the door of a building that is occupied by severaldifferent tenants, all using the same entrance, is automatically lockedso that it cannot be retracted by the knob or key, and can be releasedand made capable of movement at the will of a person on any floor of thebuilding.

The invention consists in the following instrumentalities: first, adevice adapted to automatically lock the tumbler, engaged withtheknob-spindle ofa combined latch and look when the bolt thereof isprojected, so that the bolt cannot be retracted by the rotation of theknob; secondly, a springimpelled lever adapted,when released, towithdraw the loclc ing device from the tumbler and release the latter;and, thirdly, a detent adapted to normally hold said lever away from itsnormal position, and adapted to be moved by the closure of an electriccircuit on any floor of the building, so as to release said lever andallow it to retract the tumbler-locking device, said lever being adaptedto be afterward set for action by the retraction of the lock-bolt, allof which I will now proceed to describe.

.Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent side elevations of a mortise-latch lockembodying my invention, certain parts being represented in differentpositions in the different figures to show different stages of theoperation. Fig. 4. represents a section on line maFig. 1.' Fig. 5representsasection showing the means used to connect the electro-magnetin the door with the fixed wires extending to the different floors ofthe building.

lhe same letters of reference indicate the same parts in al the figures.

In the drawings, a represents the casing of the look, I) the botthereof, and c the tumbler through which the outside knob is enabled toact on the bolt, the shank d of said knob passing through said tumblerand rotating it when the knob is turned, the tumbler bearing against apivoted lever, f, which in turn bears against an arm on the rear end ofthe bolt 12, so that when the tumbler is rotated, as shown in Fig. 3, itretracts the bolt. These parts are well known and do not of themselvesform parts of my invention. In carrying out my invention I provide abolt, 9, adapted to slide in suitable guides in the casing a and pressednormally by a spring, h, (see Fig. 4,) against the margin of thetumbler, said bolt entering a notch, 2', formed in the tumbler when thelatter is in the position it occupies when the lock-bolt b is projected,as shown in Fig. 1, the bolt g locking the tumbler and preventing theoutside knob from being rotated.

j represents a two-armed lever,pivoted at k to the casing. One of thearms of said lever extends across the bolt 9 and bears against a lug. k,formed on said bolt, its outer end projecting sufficiently far to causeit to be moved by the lock-bolt b when the latter is being retracted, ashereinafter described. The otherv arm of the lever j is provided with acatch or pin, Z, which is engaged by a detent, m, when in the positionshown in Figs. 1 and 3. The detent m is on one arm of an elbow-lever,11, to the other arm of which is secured the armature o of anelectro-magnet, p, the poles of said magnet being arranged so that whenthey attract the armature they will move the detent m sufficientl y todisengage it from the pin Z of lever j and release the latter. The leverj has a spring, g, which is secured at one end to. the lever andbears-at the other end against the casing, the tendency of said springbeing to force the lever from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shownin Fig. 2, when the lever is released by the detent.

The operation is as follows: When thelockwhich closes a circuit throughthe magnet p, causing the latter to attract the armature 0, thusreleasing the lever j, which is forced by its spring q to the positionshown in Fig. 2. The movement of the lever to the last describedposition causes it to push back the bolt 9 by its bearing on the lug 7cof said bolt, (see Fig. 4,) and thus release the tumbler c, which istherefore free to be turned. The caller may now turn the knob to retractthe bolt and open the door. The lock-bolt, in moving backwardly, strikesthe lever j and moves it back to its former position, as shown in Fig.3, the detent m re-engaging pin Z of the lever, so that the lever is setfor the next action, the bolt 9 being free to spring into the notch ofthe tumbler when thelatter is turned to the position it occupies whenthe door is closed. It will be seen, therefore, that the knob-lockingdevice is automatically reset after each release, so that no attentionis required to make it operative. The conducting-wires 2 3, connected tothe poles of the electro-magnet, pass through the door,and are connectedby suitable separable connections with fixed wiresin the casing leadingto the different floors of the building, the continuity of theconductors being broken when the door is opened and restored whenthedoor is closed. Said separable connections are shown in Fig. 5, andconsist of spring-bolts r 1", connected to the portions of the wires 2 3that are on the door 8 and screws 26 i, set in the casing, so as to makecontact with said bolts when the door is closed, the wires 2 3, leadingto thedi-ff'erent floors of the building, being connected to saidscrews. The springs rr press the bolts against the heads of the screwsand prevent the shrinkage of the door and easing from breaking thecontact. The wires 2 3 areeonnected through themedium of a distantpush-- button or other like device when it is desired to close thecircuit and energize the electromagnet.

It is obvious that the tumbler on which the key of the lock acts inretracting the bolt may be locked by my improved mechanism; hence- I donot limit its use to locking knob-tumblers alone.

I claim 1. The combination,with the operativepartsofadoor-lock,ofalocking-slide engagingtherewith, a spring-impelledlever engaging the slide, a device for holding said lever, and an'electro-magnet for releasing the device,whereby the lever may operatethe spring-slide and release the lock, substantially as described.

2'. The combinationgvith the operativeparts of a door-lock, of a lockingspring-slide engaging therewith, a spring-impelled lever engaging theslide, a detent upon one arm of a lever, an electro-magnet and anarmature therefor engaging with the detent, the arrangement being suchthat when the magnet is energized the detent is disengaged, and thelever operates the slide to release the lock, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination, with the operative parts of a lock, of a lockingspring-slide engaging therewith, a spring-actuated lever whichautomatically operates the slide when released, and is adapted to bemoved to its normal position by the operation of the lock, and anelectro-magnet and armature engaging with the said lever and controllingits movements, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a door-lock, of a sliding bolt, a rotary shank,and connections between the shank and bolt, a spring-actuated slideengaging therewith, a spring-actuated bell-crank lever engaging saidslide, one end of the lever being control-led by an electromagnet andarmature, and the other being operated by the head of the bolt, thearrangement being suchthat when the bell-crank lever is released itwithdraws the slide and the bolt may be operated, which operationautomatically sets the bell-crank to its normal position, substantiallyas described.

5. The combination, in a door-lock, of a bolt, a rotary shank having anotched tumbler connected thereto, a pivoted lever between the tumblerand bolt, a spring-slide normally engaging the notch inthe tumbler, aspring-actuated lever normally held by a detent on one arm engaging thearmature of an electro-magnet, the other arm normally bearing ontheslide,and serving to operate the same to release the tumbler, and tobe operated by the head of the bolt to be automatically set, andconducting-wires extending to a distant point, as and for the purposeset forth.

6. The combination of the electro-magnet located in the casing of adoor-lock, the wires 2 3, extending therefrom to the inner edge of thedoor, the spring-bolts 1" r inthe edge of the door, connectedwith saidwires, the contact-screws t t in the casing, and wires 2 3, leadingtodifferent parts of the building, as set forth. I

p In testimony whereof I have'signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 3lst day of May, 1884.

GEORGE E. THAXTER.

Witnesses:

G.- F. BROWN, A. L. WHITE.

ICC

